Sunday, January 8, 2012

American citizens: a better connection with the immigration than the one of European citizens.

My article can be found thanks to this link: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/americans-still-mostly-welcome-immigrants-survey-finds/?scp=4&sq=survey&st=cse

The survey mentioned in this article can be found there: http://trends.gmfus.org/

1/ The German Marshall Fund of the United States did the survey, which is the purpose of the article. It’s a nonpartisan American public policy and grant making institution. Its goal is to promote the relationships between North America and Europe. This institution tries to encourage the exchanges in the field of politics, economy, environment and social.

2/ The German Marshall Fund of the United States did this report without sponsor. The institution makes two public opinion polls every year concerning the transatlantic relationships and their impact on the public opinion. Even if this institution is nonpartisan, we have to notice that its funding system depends on European and American governments. Indeed, the USA and numerous European States give money to the German Marshall Fund. This institution couldn’t exist without the funding of these governments. We will therefore say that these governments are the sponsors of the survey and more precisely, the American government.

3/ The world context is important: this survey was done after the Arabic spring that affected a lot the immigration in Europe. The goal is to know if there is a difference of state of mind at the hands of immigration in the public opinion between Europe and the USA. The governments that give money to the institution want to know how the Arabic spring affected people. The policymakers need to know what the population thinks to act accordingly.

If we focus on the United States, we can say that this survey is very important for the government. Presidential elections takes place very soon in the USA and Barack Obama has to give his position concerning a lot of topics including the immigration. This study can help him to know what to do. The immigration is a big debate in the USA and republicans and democrats have a very different position. Republicans want to be very strict with this policy instead of the democrats who are often accused to be relaxed. By the way, that’s what the survey shows. Even if American citizens are still ok to welcome immigrants, they don’t seem to trust the politic of the government concerning this domain. This survey can be a warning for Barack Obama to show him that he has to give his opinion and to propose ideas. This survey can also help the republicans for their speeches to win the next presidential election.We can therefore say that the survey is useful for policymakers and political parties.

4/ The information on methodology is included in the end of the survey and seems to be complete. If information is missing, there is a link to see more details concerning the methodology.

5 and 6/ The key findings report that we can find on the website of Transatlantic Trends Report is written in a clear informative manner. It’s always the same method: a grouped bar graph that analyses a variable. The graph allows a comparison of the same variable in different countries: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom and the USA. Sometimes the graph shows the evolution of this variable in every country for four years.

After this clear graph, the authors of the survey analyze the most important results and try to show the general trends. Because they analyze, we can say that the report is not only informative but the redactors take a stand.

However, we can say that the graphs and the analysis of the general trend are given in a clear informative way.